Tar on my Heels

This September has been a good month for rare Anderson toys made by Tarheel of Tarboro, North Carolina in the US of A.

First up was a rare example of the the American version of Task Force 1. Part of a bundle of space toys, pictured below [Ebay], this loose TF1 came in the classic Tarheel scarlet and sported the Task Force stickers. Despite having a missing fin tip and engine, it still got my heart racing.

WOTE actually texted me about it at work, which was a first and added to the excitement, as this is a definate gap in the Moon Base collection! This reminded me of the phone-calls we used to get years ago [on the landline!] when I was a keen birdwatcher [not keen enough to keep up the twitching though]. This is the first Tarheel TF1 I've personally seen on Ebay and I know of only one or two collectors who own one. Sadly I'm not one of them as, alas, my meagre budget ran out of steam early on as the lot went on to reach a final sale price of £121. I better get saving up!

The second Tarheel treat was possibly only the second outing that I personally know of for this toy on Ebay, the elusive Nova III. It's box end is pictured [Ebay]. Now fortunately I already own one of these great plastic spaceships, having bagged one along with it's two Nova stablemates, about five years ago.

The Anderson connection is less clear this time but we've delved into it before. Basically it's a deadringer for one of the models, which Brains makes for Gordon Tracy, in an attempt to design the perfect Thunderbird 6. Rejected, Brains throws it on the floor just as Scott walks through the door! You can see the carnage on You Tube below - around the 7 mins 6 seconds mark. Just slide the timer along to that and watch Brain's rage against the machine!